Movies like Nightbirds (2024)
The best movies like Nightbirds (2024) are The Starling (2021), Penguin Bloom (2021) and Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973). If Nightbirds hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSwapped (2026)8.8/10 from 2,296 votes
- NewestSwapped (2026)Released 2026
The Starling (2021)
A woman adjusting to life after a loss contends with a feisty bird that's taken over her garden — and a husband who's struggling to find a way forward.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPenguin Bloom (2021)
When an unlikely ally enters the Bloom family's world in the form of an injured baby magpie they name Penguin, the bird’s arrival makes a profound difference in the struggling family’s life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJonathan Livingston Seagull (1973)
Jonathan is sick and tired of the boring life in his seagull clan. He rather experiments with new, always more daring flying techniques. Since he doesn't fit in, the elders expel him from the clan. So he sets out to discover the world beyond the horizon in a quest for wisdom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSwapped (2026)
A small woodland creature and a majestic bird, two natural sworn enemies of the Valley, magically trade places and set off on an adventure of a lifetime to switch back. Their journey soon uncovers a greater threat—one that could endanger not only their species, but the entire valley they call home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRomancing the Stone (1984)
Though she can spin wild tales of passionate romance, novelist Joan Wilder has no life of her own. Then one day adventure comes her way in the form of a mysterious package. It turns out that the parcel is the ransom she'll need to free her abducted sister, so Joan flies to South America to hand it over. But she gets on the wrong bus and winds up hopelessly stranded in the jungle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBedtime Stories (2008)
Skeeter Bronson is a down-on-his-luck guy who's always telling bedtime stories to his niece and nephew. But his life is turned upside down when the fantastical stories he makes up for entertainment inexplicably turn into reality. Can a bewildered Skeeter manage his own unruly fantasies now that the outrageous characters and situations from his mind have morphed into actual people and events?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret of Kells (2009)
Adventure awaits 12 year old Brendan who must fight Vikings and a serpent god to find a crystal and complete the legendary Book of Kells. In order to finish Brother Aiden's book, Brendan must overcome his deepest fears on a secret quest that will take him beyond the abbey walls and into the enchanted forest where dangerous mythical creatures hide. Will Brendan succeed in his quest?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPicture Perfect (1997)
A young advertising executive's life becomes increasingly complicated when, in order to impress her boss, she pretends to be engaged to a man she has just met.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisTuesday (2024)
A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAce Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)
Summoned from an ashram in Tibet, Ace finds himself on a perilous journey into the jungles of Africa to find Shikaka, the missing sacred animal of the friendly Wachati tribe. He must accomplish this before the wedding of the Wachati's Princess to the prince of the warrior Wachootoos. If Ace fails, the result will be a vicious tribal war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Thousand Words (2012)
Jack McCall is a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack’s life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard. With every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he’s got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he’s a goner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnow White and the Huntsman (2012)
After the Evil Queen marries the King, she performs a violent coup in which the King is murdered and his daughter, Snow White, is taken captive. Almost a decade later, a grown Snow White is still in the clutches of the Queen. In order to obtain immortality, The Evil Queen needs the heart of Snow White. After Snow escapes the castle, the Queen sends the Huntsman to find her in the Dark Forest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrothers of the Wind (2015)
The way of the eagle is to raise two chicks. The stronger is destined always to throw the weaker from the nest. Man also has his ways, often to hurt those closest to him. Lukas suffers at the hands of a father who has withdrawn since the loss of his wife. Killed whilst rescuing the infant Lukas, the boy now carries the burden of her death. Our eagle’s story begins in the nest. The first-born chick pushes his weaker brother to a certain death on the forest floor. But fate intervenes and the chick is found by Lukas. Naming him Abel, Lukas cares for the creature in secret, finding a love and companionship denied to him at home. But when the day comes to release Abel back into the wild, will Lukas find his own release into a new life?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlicka (2006)
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Razor's Edge (1946)
An adventurous young man goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the process. But when he returns 10 years later, she will stop at nothing to get him back, even though she is already married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Walter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream becomes reality when he accidentally meets a mysterious woman who hands him a little black book. According to her, it contains the locations of the Dutch crown jewels hidden since World War II. Soon, Mitty finds himself in the middle of a confusing conspiracy, where he has difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWicked (2021)
Ivy Morgan, a college student in New Orleans, falls for Ren Owens, the last person she expected to enter her rigidly controlled life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAfterlife of the Party (2021)
A social butterfly who dies during her birthday week is given a second chance to right her wrongs on Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Yearling (1946)
Jody convinces his parents to allow him to adopt a young deer, but what will happen if the deer misbehaves?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpell (2020)
A father survives a plane crash in rural Appalachia, but becomes suspicious of the elderly couple who take him in to nurse him back to health with the ancient remedies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Nightbirds?
The closest matches to Nightbirds are The Starling (2021), Penguin Bloom (2021) and Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Nightbirds?
Start with The Starling (2021), the closest match to Nightbirds.
What is the highest-rated movie like Nightbirds?
Swapped (2026), rated 8.8/10 by 2,296 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Nightbirds?
Swapped (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Nightbirds?
Yes: The Starling (2021), Penguin Bloom (2021) and Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973).
How are movies similar to Nightbirds chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Nightbirds, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.